Due To The Antigen Rapid Test Rules, Hotels In Bogor Are Quiet During Christmas Holidays

Illustration. (Marten Bjork / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The occupancy rate or occupancy of hotels in Bogor City during the Christmas 2020 and New Year 2021 holidays has decreased. This is the impact of the enactment of mandatory regulations to show negative rapid antigen test results or PCR swab test results.

"The mandatory regulation shows the results of rapid antigen tests or swab tests, which have an impact on hotel occupancy, but the decline is not significant," said the Chairman of the Indonesian Hotel General Manager Association (IHGMA) Bogor Raya Chapter, Eka Gartika, quoted from Antara, Monday, December 28.

Based on IHGMA daily data for the Bogor Raya chapter, hotel occupancy in the city of Bogor, on Thursday 24 December reached 95.88 percent, and on Friday 25 December it fell to 50.40 percent.

Meanwhile, the monthly data from the institution, the occupancy of hotels in Bogor City in December 2020, until Thursday 24 December the occupancy was 82.93 percent, and as of Friday December the occupancy was 81.70 percent.

According to him, hotel guests who come by private cars are not required to show a negative rapid antigen test or PCR swab test results.

However, he added, the news in the mass media had already mentioned that hotel guests had shown negative results of the rapid antigen test or PCR swab test results, so the information was confused.

The General Manager of Hotel Asana Grand Pangrango, Bogor City, explained that the rules must show negative rapid antigen test results or PCR swab test results for tourists from outside the city who visit tourist destinations and to restaurants, while for hotel guests who come using private cars, no. Required.

Hotel guests, he said, generally do not come suddenly and have already ordered since a few days before, although there are also some guests who come suddenly.

According to Eka, the rules are obliged to show a rapid antigen test result or a negative PCR swab test result based on the Bogor Mayor Circular Number 440.45-911 of 2020 and the Circular of the Bogor City COVID-19 Task Force Number 01 / STPC.BGR / XII of 2020, which refers to the Circular Fiber of the Governor of West Java.

During this year's Christmas and New Year holidays, hotel managers are also not allowed to carry out activities that can cause crowds. The regulation will take effect from December 24, 2020 to January 8, 2021.

Hotel managers in Bogor City, he added, comply with the rules implemented by the Bogor City Government, the goal is to prevent and suppress the transmission of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the head of the Bogor City branch of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), Yuno Abeta Lahay, said that the mandatory regulation to show negative results from a rapid antigen test or PCR swab test results affects hotel occupancy.

"There is a decrease of around 15 percent to 20 percent," he said.

According to him, the existence of this rule in the short term is rather burdensome for hotel managers, but in the long term it actually supports the COVID-19 pandemic to end soon so that the tourism industry grows back to normal.